Fox is the daughter of acclaimed anthropologist Robin Fox (not to be confused with the historian Robin Lane Fox). As a child she lived in the UK, the United States, France and Ireland. She studied anthropology and philosophy at Cambridge University. After a period in publishing and marketing she became a co-director of MCM Research in 1989. She is now a director of the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford.

Fox has written a number of books covering her research. Her titles include:

• Drinking and Public Disorder (co-authored with Dr. Peter Marsh) (Portman Group, 1992)
• Pubwatching with Desmond Morris (Sutton, 1993)
• Passport to the Pub: The Tourist's Guide to Pub Etiquette (DoNot Press, 1996)
• The Racing Tribe: Watching the Horsewatchers (Metro, 1999)
• Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour (Hodder and Stoughton, 2004)

Fox acts as an international consultant on violence management and prevention. She has created award-winning training programmes on the subject for a variety of clients, including publicans and bookmakers.

She also consults on issues such as customer psychology, complaint handling, team leading and crime prevention. This too has led to her involvement in developing training and information programmes.